The Great Tribulation part 2: Home Sweet Home
by Brendan Morrisey
Summary: After arriving home in Britain after a close encounter with Florian, not all is what it seems to be.


Back home, to a country at war. John was not serving in the war like the other men his age. He had trained in 39, had even been part of the phony war that took place in Poland, and made some friends in the army. At his father's requests to the government he had received honorable discharge. They said he would be doing enough good serving his country by helping his father get to the tomb of King Solomon before the Nazis could. John was a bit angry at his father for this but understood completely and got over it. He eventually thanked his father for taking him out since he had yet to see any action anyway. Maybe he would get a chance to use his military training in case they ran into any Nazis, which they did during their last trip to Israel. His father reacted strangely when he had witnessed John kill a man. Many men that was, with a grenade. It was out of self defense, during a time of war, but something still seemed to deeply bother Thomas. After all he was a Roman Catholic and had raised both his children very religiously. Could it be now that John had killed, would he not be able to see Heaven when he died? What he thought did not matter though, because only god's judgment will matter in the end. All Thomas could do is pray that the war would be enough justification. 

Back home waiting for Thomas was his lovely wife Elizabeth and his other child Abigail. Abigail was eighteen years old, only four years younger than John, and already she was engaged to be married. John didn't seem to bother much with women anymore. He seemed to have been looking for something more in life than just love. His most recent relationship was with a girl he had known since his high school days but never dated her until after they had graduated, but after tying him down too much with her annoying needs for classiness and elegance, John broke it off with her. He never regretted anything, he was too adventurous and enlightened for settling down to a high class life with a fancy rich girl. John needed work in order to keep driving himself through the days, and Thomas provided it to him with the archeological work they had been doing together. Thomas was happy for his daughter, that she found love in her life, but he was disappointed that she beat her older brother to it.

The two of them came through the front door and both women were already waiting at the entrance, ready to greet them. Abigail ran to John and hugged him the instant he stepped inside.

"Johnny!"

She was light within his arms, she used to seem a lot heavier back when they were younger. Age had made John into a man but Abigail would still always be that same little girl he used to play with out in the back yard with.

"Did you bring back anything from Israel this time? Maybe a present for my wedding?"

"When the hell was the last time I brought you back a present? Dad and I practically go there on a weekly basis. If you really want anything go there and get it yourself."

"Oh, be nice to her John." said Thomas.

The two ran out into the other room like a couple of little kids and Thomas and Elizabeth were alone together. They looked at each other for a few moments smiling and finally embraced. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, like a typical couple in old age. They weren't really all that old but they were old enough to be unable to have anymore children, and the two they did have had already grown into adults. With their daughter getting married soon it was only a matter of time till they had grandchildren. They didn't talk too much to each other, simply because there was no need to. They briefly mentioned the little things to each other here and there and went on with their lives. 

Elizabeth went straight to making dinner right away and Thomas set the table. Thomas talked to John more than anyone else in the family, and Elizabeth talked to Abigail more. The family was naturally divided by gender that way. The men would talk about work, and the girls discussed the wedding. None of these subjects ever really interested the other party, but both things were always brought up an equal amount of times at the dinner table.

"So," said Elizabeth, "Abigail and I finally found a dress today for her wedding. I think her fiancé Ted will really like seeing her in it when she walks down the isle."

"That's great," said Thomas as he ate his food. "Did you get any letters from Ted today, honey?"

"No. Although, he hasn't been stationed anywhere yet, he's still in the country. I guess the closer the better, you know?"

"Hmm.. I don't know about that. The thought of him still being here is a little rattling… It kind of sounds like we're going to be fighting the war over here soon on our own soil."

"Oh quiet." Interrupted Elizabeth, "must we always ruin dinner with all this talk about the war? The quicker it's over the faster Ted can come home and marry Abi."

"You know," said John. "it's getting really lonely here being the only guy my age in almost all of Britain. If the war is going to be coming to us, maybe we should stay somewhere else till it all blows over… Maybe we could all live in Jerusalem for a while? We'll also probably be able to get work done a whole lot faster too." 

"After what happened today John, I really doubt bringing the family there is such a great idea. We don't want to see you pulling out any more grenades, especially in front of your sister." 

A look of shock came over Elizabeth's face at the sound of the word grenade.

"What did you just say?"

"It's nothing," John replied. "Me and dad ran into those Nazi guys again and we had to defend ourselves. We made it out alright." 

"Where ever on Earth you got that thing; it better be legal." said Thomas

"Look, I was in the army, you use grenades in the army. Is that really such a big deal?"

"It is a big deal. I don't think they just let you bring those things home for souvenirs John, I really don't."

"I don't know why you're fussing about it. If I hadn't done what I did we probably wouldn't even be here right now with that stinking map. It seems like all we ever do all we get is just another stupid map that leads to another one, and then another one." It's like we're not even looking for Solomon anymore, we're collecting up on maps he left behind."

"If you're really considering to be a serious archeologist then I don't want to hear you complaining anymore over a good day's find. Archeologists look for things, they don't blow people up."

"I didn't have a choice! There were no wars back when you were my age dad and there were no fascists running everything. Things are different now. If you can't accept that then maybe your days of being an archeologist are over." 

John stormed out of the room with his dinner left unfinished. The room was left silent and everyone just looked at each other. 

"So do you want to see the dress?" Abigail muttered. 

Thomas was writing at his desk. He was making an entry in his journal about their latest find. He checked his pockets and realized he didn't have the map on him. He figured John must still have it from when they left Israel. He decided to take a break and just sit back and think for a while. He felt like he was losing control of his son. He knew he had good intentions still in him but it got harder to reach out to him. It seemed like the only reason John was helping him was because he liked to do the work, he didn't seem to care much for the teachings anymore. He was afraid that John might be losing his faith and he didn't want that to happen. But what could he do without making things worst? Thomas was helpless for now.

"Honey, could you help me clean up?" Elizabeth called out.

"Just a sec."

He got up out of his chair, stepped foot into the hallway, and then froze in his tracks . There standing in his own house was Florian, holding a revolver. Thomas stood still with his jaw dropped in awe. Florian shot Thomas in his leg and he fell instantly. The rest of Florian's goons began thrashing the house, destroying everything in their paths. Two of them carried Elizabeth and Abigail through the other doorway into the room. They held them each by the hair as they pleaded for their lives. Florian got down on his knees and looked Thomas straight in the eye. His stare was both hideous and mesmerizing. Just the sight of him made Thomas sick to his stomach.

"That wasn't a very smart thing you did back there in Israel. I'm hoping this time you'll cooperate."

"Please," cried Thomas. "Take me, but let my family go. They have nothing to do with any of this. Just let them go."

"I don't know if I can do that. You have such beautiful women in your family, I like admiring them as we talk. Maybe if we do something to them you'll cooperate." 

"Please, I don't have the map here."

"Liar!" 

"Just let my family go and keep me here. We'll wait together for my so-"

Florian interrupted Thomas before he could tell him his son was the one who had the map.

"If you want to keep playing games as I threaten your family's lives then you are obviously a very foolish man."

Florian aimed his revolver at Elizabeth. As he raised his arm up towards her she screamed, only to be silenced by a bullet. Her blood splattered against Abigail's face as she cried. Thomas began crying too. 

"Search the house, and if you don't find it then burn the whole place down."

Thomas laid there helpless as they poured kerosene through out the house. He had tried to speak but nothing came out. One of the Nazis struck a match and tossed it to the floor. The whole place around him quickly went up. The flames consumed the room around him, as if hell had found it's place here in his home. He could hear his daughter scream as she was swallowed alive by the flames. The world around him starting getting quieter. It was all over. In his last moments all he could think about was his son. He was still out there somewhere. He was still alive and that made him happy. He closed his eyes and embraced his end.

It had been a couple hours already when John decided to start walking home from the bar. It wasn't the first time he had walked out of dinner over a fight with his father. He was sick of his attitude about everything, he was sick of running into dead ends in Israel, he was sick of the Nazis and sick of the war, and most importantly he was sick of god. His father's work was all John had left in life and that pissed him off. He started wishing that he had stayed in the army even though that failed miserably for him after standing around waiting to fight a battle that never happened. He had experienced more action helping his father out and even still his dad was busting his ass over it, regardless of the fact that he had got them all out alive. There had to have been something going on in the war now. It couldn't be quiet and simple like this forever. Maybe it was time to persuade his father to let him go back into the army. Probably first he could help out one last time with the new map, and then after that he'll leave. If they still hadn't found Solomon's tomb by then, so be it.

John noticed smoke coming from one of the neighborhoods in the distance. This wasn't his neighborhood, was it? He rushed his way home to see his house burnt down and fire trucks and police out in front. No sign of his family. He ran as fast he could and didn't stop. There was a crowd of people gathered around. He pushed everyone out of his way as he made it onto the lawn. One of the officers tried to keep him back but John was a lot stronger than he was and almost managed to break through.

"This is my house! Where's my family?"

The officer let him go and allowed him by. "No one made it out, I'm sorry son." 

John's legs felt weak beneath him and he let himself fall to his knees. He had a hard time trying to breathe as he tried to hold back his tears. Everyone was gone, he was the only one left in his family. Even his sister was gone (it was only a matter of time until her wedding but now she had passed on without it ever coming to be). He had no choice now but to finish his father's work. Now it was his only fate. He pulled something out of his pocket that he had left over from the other day. It was the map. This had to be Florian who did this. He snuck into the country somehow, tracked down where his father lived and killed his family. They were after this map, but unfortunately for them John had it with him and wasn't there at the time. It was like someone was looking over John, making sure he would be able to fulfill his destiny. He clenched the map within his fist as he watched the dead bodies of his family carried out of the ashes of his old house. They were covered with white sheets, like the ghosts of a reminder that he had a whole new battle to fight now. If he ever ran into Florian again he would make sure that he would die a slow and painful death. John stood up and put the map back in his pocket. Time to go back to Jerusalem. 


End file.
